Making Peace
by Guy who may like dragons
Summary: Modern twist/re-imagining/AU of HTTYD. Mankind is at war with dragons. Hickory Haddock, a.k.a. Hiccup the horrendous is at the forefront of this conflict. A sad excuse for a soldier who will find himself stranded in the wilderness with a choice. Role-reversals and other fun stuff galore, come have a read. Will be somewhat dark at times.
1. All alone?

**AN**

**Disclaimer:** I neither own Dreamworks How to Train Your Dragon nor the works of Cressida Cowell.

**Warnings: **Some blood and dark themes.

**Rating: **A solid T (maybe a big T = 15+)

**Genre: **Fantasy and ehm, hurt/comfort? Angst maybe? Action? Maybe some friendship thrown into the mix? We'll have to see.

So this is a plot bunny that has stuck with me for a really long time. I've always liked the idea of dragons in a modern setting, since it makes you think you could look out the window and see one. **But do not fret, this will not be a story brimming with military terms. **But as it this far mainly is a plot bunny, I'm not sure if this story is worth writing so I would appreciate some feedback.

The story will be reversing roles in some events of the first movie, while also keeping some scenes and occasionally completely deviating from the plot/adding to it, to elaborate on a certain condition or relation. Basically you might not see a pattern with how I write the story, but attentive readers might see what I allude to here and there. Also I'm not sure about how much everyone will be in character, but know that Hiccup has been a bully victim for a few more years compared to the movie and Toothless, well, his traits might be stronger, in addition to a big alteration to the dragons.

Lastly, I need to add that this might be the darkest story (the story with the darkest scenes) I've ever written, so I might unintentionally overdramatize some warnings, or not.

* * *

**Ch 1 – All alone?**

The helicopter roared, almost blocking out the high pitch screams of the different warning systems. They had been hit and they were going to crash, Hiccup knew that much, but everything else was a blur. Another roar was heard, this one coming from something other than the helicopter entirely. Then the helicopter shook once more. Another hit. Before he knew it the chopper was spinning out of control.

Hiccup was slung into to the opposite wall, ironically clad with parachutes he couldn't grasp. Then he was back in his chair again, and the next second slammed headfirst into a wall. But, then he was in free air.

For a brief moment he saw the sky. A few clouds sailed across it and the sun, given time, would have given him warmth. How could such a day be so cruel? The next he knew he was falling through the branches of a pine tree. Loud cracks were heard through the forest as he fell, but Hiccup heard nothing of it. All he heard was a ringing noise. Then he hit the ground.

The first feeling Hiccup felt was warmth. The rays of the sun had found his face and offered a stark contrast to the chilling air. A pool was gathering under his head, equally warm. Then he felt the pain. He tried to scream, but only managed a gasp for air. The air had been knocked out of him, and he needed it back.

The pain didn't fade and the pool beneath his head kept growing. A lesson of old came to his mind, and he ripped a good bit of fabric from his shirt. He remembered that a man with a cheery voice had instructed them about improvised bandages, but he could neither remember his face nor his name. Wincing with pain he tried to be quick with the bandage for his head. His ribs protested. His muscles and his nausea did likewise.

When he finished with his head he was close to collapsing. While doing his best to control his breathing, he tried to register his surroundings. There where trees all around him, which wasn't a surprise, and the ground was clad in moss, interrupted by the occasional game trail or shrubbery. Game trails were always deceitful; easily tricking you into believing it a manmade path that will lead you to civilization and salvation, but then it disappears.

He had to get up, find shelter. Dragons might be the biggest and scariest threat around, but there were plenty of things that could kill you in a forest. Especially at night. With that thought in mind he reached for the trunk of the tree that had cushioned his fall. The bark was rough beneath his fingers and peeled away somewhat at his touch, revealing tree resin sticking to his palm.

At first it wasn't all that bad. His right leg responded well to his weight, but as soon as he tried to stabilize himself with his left leg he was stabbed with a jolt of pain. The leg buckled under him, and this time he had air to scream. When the pain had faded to a throb his breathing was rapid. He had to try again if he wished to live.

Once again he reached for the tree trunk and rose agonizingly slowly, intent on letting his left leg hang limp. When he finally stood upright, he allowed himself to rest. There were furrows in the bark and a matching set of small tears in the skin of his hand. Then he realized something.

_Great, do I have to jump through this forest on one leg?_ He thought. Looking around for a solution he saw a fallen tree branch, still clad in dark green pine needles, only a few skips away. Somehow he managed to jump his way to the branch, to then pick it up and start removing the smaller connected branches with his knife, the only weapon he had ever been entrusted with. The freshly fallen material was hard to saw through, but at least he was surrounded by the not too unpleasant smell of pine.

The smell brought him blurred memories from when he had walked through the forest around his childhood home, and how shadows flashed across the sky. He couldn't remember if the shadows belonged to dragons or planes, but he remembered that he never told his dad about his ventures. When he was finished he stood with something like a crutch in his hands, which he could place beneath his left shoulder to awkwardly skimp ahead.

He decided to follow a game trail against his better judgment, but it would probably at least lead him to water. His steps took a steady, albeit slow, rhythm but it was also accompanied by jolts of pain with every step. Trying to distract himself he thought about the one thing that eluded him. Why was he here? He knew that he had been repositioned because of his continuous hiccups. The farthest, most out of reach outpost might have been a good way to counter his mishaps, but why had they flown through almost uncharted areas with unknown dragon activity. Had someone wanted him gone?

Maybe he couldn't blame them, the lost ammunition crates might have been a big enough issue, but after the burnt down barrack he would have wanted himself gone. Everything he did was a horrendous hiccup. Perhaps except the crutch he was using, but then again it would probably hurt someone in the future. _Somehow, _he sighed.

Too intent on his own thoughts and avoiding the occasional root in his path, he missed seeing the newly broken trees and was then surprised when he stepped into a clearing. The afternoon sun blinded him, but soon he started seeing a black shape in the middle of the clearing. At first it seemed like an odd boulder. Then it seemed like a boulder with ropes around it. And then, it seemed like a body with head, limbs and wings encased in rope. He gasped. _A dragon. _

Any proper soldier would have grabbed his knife and gone in for the kill, so that's what he did. Although maybe fate would smile upon him, and the beast would already be dead… _Fat chance,_ he thought, when had he ever been lucky. He limped closer and poked the dragon with his crutch. His bad luck was then confirmed when the dragon tried to move, straining against its bonds. He would have to kill it.

When he was younger he had been dreaming about killing a dragon. Dreaming about making his father, the high ranking officer, proud of him. But at some point he had realized that he wasn't a killer. And now he would have to make his first kill, alone, injured and frightened. He inched his way closer to its head, or its neck to be more precise. He grabbed his knife preparing to strike. Then the dragon opened its eyes, and toxic green met his own. He froze.

Dragons are soulless and mindless killers, void of any emotion. That's what he had been told. It was false. The eyes of the dragon in front of him were enough proof. It too was scared… alone and injured. He tried to force himself to strike. But he couldn't. He backed away and sat down, or rather fell down unto his rump. Unpleasant thoughts filled his mind while thinking about his options.

Either he took the dragons life, and waited until hypothermia or wolves killed him. Then none of them would survive. Or he could leave the dragon, rendering the same result. But maybe he didn't want to wait for the hypothermia, maybe he wanted at least one of them to survive. What was he saying? He had been called crazy many times, and with a sardonic smile he thought. _Maybe they were right._

He rose painstakingly, and approached the dragon once more. This time he didn't head for the neck, but instead the ropes. Resting on his good leg he started cutting the ropes. He did his best not to think about anything, and then the ropes slackened. The dragon pounced, pinning him to the ground.

Stiff with horror he met the eyes of the dragon. It wasn't frightened anymore. It was in control now. Hiccup knew it all was about to end. He closed his eyes, and let his head fall to the side in resignation. Then he waited. And waited.

But his end never came. Instead he felt something position itself under his back, raising him to a sitting position, while a head nuzzled into his neck. Was the dragon embracing him? Hugging him? _I'm dead._ That was the only explanation, although he had expected his pain to end when he died. The touch removed itself and Hiccup opened his eyes.

The dragon was only a step away. Its head was tilted, and it looked at him like a child seeing something for the first time. This was just great. For a short moment he had thought that his pain would end, but instead the dragon chose to turn all he knew upside down. It had shown him mercy. Or maybe it was intelligent enough to know that a death by dragon would have been merciful and simply wanted to condemn him to the fate that awaited him after sunset.

He could see in his mind how he would do his best to run in panic, a full moon illuminating the sky and his lips and limbs blue and stiff from the cold. Then without much effort a pack of wolves would catch up to him. They would knock him down and relish the taste of his blood as their jaws closed around him… All because the dragon wouldn't show him the pity of ending his life.

A voice interrupted his grim thoughts. _"No."_

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**AN**

So what did you think? Please leave me a review and tell me. I hope you don't mind the chapter length since I generally go with the shorter length for more frequent updates, or any updates when I get a lot on my hands.

There is so much I would like to say, but I'll let you speak now


	2. Not quite alone

**AN**

**Disclaimer:** I neither own Dreamworks How to Train Your Dragon nor the works of Cressida Cowell.

**Warnings: **None really for this chapter

**Rating: T **

Well, it's been a while. Most will know how it is, other stories start demanding attention, and things in your life take up more of your time, studying abroad for me. But in the end every story calls me back to it for a read through and I often end up writing a few lines. Then I get a burst of motivation for a story and here it is. (Also the nice reviews helped to get me going *hint hint*)

Also, if you are reading this and are writing something of your own, do yourself a favor and make a mind-map or plot summary. The key plot-points will never leave you but now and then some smaller nifty plot-point will be forgotten and you will only remember how brilliant it was…

In this chapter the semi-classical dragon trait that I've chosen to implement to this universe will become apparent. I assume you'll see what I mean and would love to hear your opinion.

* * *

**Ch. 2 – Not quite alone**

_What was that?_ Hiccup's thoughts darted around in loops. He looked around trying to find the source of the voice. Muscles straining as his eyes scanned the area, and then coughing and pain. He tasted metal as it stopped. _Pierced lung…_

"_That doesn't sound good" _The voice again.

"W-who." Leaned forward, resting on his arms he tried to speak, but what should have been saliva colored the ground red. Then he looked up.

"_I'm right here."_

The dragon was still in front of him. It's face was… expressive. Eyebrows raised, if it would have had any that is, and head slightly cocked. _I knew it. I'm going insane from shock. Or blood loss. I did hit my head…_ Toxic green met his eyes, its pupils' two lines.

"_No, you're not going insane."_ Then the head swung forward and the dragon took a step to his side. It circled him, and Hiccup heard more than saw it sniff him over as he let his head fall. It took all his strength to keep himself upright, his hands clawed at the earth for support. Tears were brimming in his eyes as he heard a snort and felt air tussle his hair. He felt so cold.

"_Not insane no, but you're not looking all that well." _

He wanted to laugh, but remained silent and smirked through the constant pain. _No I'm not looking that well. Most people would be dead. But instead I get to hobble through a forest and get pounced by a dragon. Yay me…_ His arms were trembling. _So tired._

"_Give in."_

He wanted to. His arms were lead, but slowly he allowed himself to bend his one arm and slowly, painstakingly so, lower himself all the way to the ground and onto his back. _So tired. _As he closed his eyes the last thing he saw was the silhouette of the night fury.

* * *

Hiccup slept surprisingly well. In his dreams he was snuggled up to something black and warm, but the waking world soon intruded. At first he felt cold rock under him, and then he opened his eyes to find himself in a cave. It was large but then he saw something moving.

"_It's about time."_

He looked around, to find a looming black shape. _The night fury. _Without minding his injuries he started crawling backwards.

"_You've been asleep for almost two days."_ It walked towards him, keeping its head low and its green eyes focused on him.

Hiccup soon hit a wall and panic rose as the dragon crept closer. But as his breathing became quicker and his eyes wide with terror, it stopped and sat down on its haunches.

"_I won't hurt you." _It angled its head and to Hiccup it almost looked like a dog.

Then memories came back from the day before. Flashes of a falling helicopter, his limp through the forest, the dragon and the voice, much like the one he was hearing now. He didn't understand. There were two options. Either he was going crazy and hearing voices, or he was going even crazier fooling himself to hear a dragon speak.

The dragon narrowed its eyes and Hiccup gasped. _"Are you too blind to see what's in front of you!?"_ The voice was annoyed.

No words would escape his throat. He just looked at the Night Fury, dumbfounded. It looked back not breaking eye contact. In its eyes he saw the same thing he had seen the first time. It wasn't the mindless killer everyone would have him believe. He saw emotions, intelligence and interest in those green orbs. "Maybe I just had to open my eyes and look."

The dragons face then became relaxed. _"I hope you plan to keep them open." _

Hiccup then tried to force a smile. He felt like an idiot, and then he realized that showing your teeth to an animal, intelligent or not, probably wasn't the smartest. He then felt like an even bigger idiot about to die. But the dragon didn't pounce. Instead it started reciprocating his action, turning the corners of its mouth upward and revealing gum. This left his mouth gaping.

The dragon then let go of the facial expression and spoke, or whatever it was doing. _"What do they call such a small human as yourself."_

He swallowed to clear his throat before answering. "Hiccup."

"_That's an odd name."_

Hiccup sighed. How was it speaking to him anyway? "It's both my name and what I am. A hiccup, a mistake." He looked down to the solid rock. Normally he would never let anyone see him cry, but he was weakened from injury and probably hunger when he thought about it. Tears gathered in his eyes and they started falling. If his dad could see him now. Captured by an enemy who shouldn't take prisoners, but apparently he had to be first. The first to commit every hiccup. Every failure.

The dragon had crept closer, and as Hiccup lifted his head he realized it was within arm's reach. He could touch it if he dared. All he needed was to reach out. His hand rose slowly. Then it fell again. The Night fury saw this and closed its eyes while leaning ever so slightly closer. Once more his hand rose shaking. It moved closer until he felt the heat radiating from the dragon and then he felt smooth skin. His hand was still shaking, but he closed his eyes.

He moved his hand ever so slightly, feeling the smooth and soft texture, the miniscule ridges between every scale. Its breath blew on his arm and to some extent all over his small body. It was warm, warmer than a human's, but not unpleasant. When he then opened his eyes the tears had dried from his cheeks. He withdrew his hand.

As he withdrew the Night Fury opened its eyes. Their eyes met once more. Something had changed, Hiccup was still wary of the dragon, but maybe not as afraid. Hiccup broke eye contact first, and studied the rocks behind the dragon.

"A-and you?"

"_What's that?"_

"What's your name?" He did his best to smile while asking, albeit without teeth this time.

"_You may call me Toothless." _The dragon, Toothless, hadn't moved much and was still looking at the small human in a fashion you could only describe as reassuring.

"I see…" It made sense to Hiccup in some ways, but in other ways not. "But I could have sworn your kind had teeth."

"_I do." _The reassuring posture now changed to something smug, or maybe amused.

Hiccup sighed while waving his hand in a small circle. "Care to elaborate?"

"_They are retractable."_

"Makes sense, I guess." In one way he wanted to see how this worked, but in another more self-preserving way he'd rather not. There was still one question pressing though. "How are we talking to each other? Or I mean how do you speak? I-I mean you don't talk." He stumbled over the last words.

"_We dragons have a certain dominion over the mind, but I don't think our kinds have communicated before." _Toothless had backed off somewhat, allowing Hiccup to see him in full, claws, wings and all.

"Then how come we are talking to each other?"

"_It's a good question, and I'm not sure I know, but when you found me you were sort of leaking. Emotions flooded from your small mind and I saw it all. Your fear when you saw me, your terror when you realized what you had to do, your reluctance and then your guilt." _Toothless lowered himself to all fours. _"Maybe it was your injured state, but you were open to me. Open to read and speak to."_

Hiccup shifted uneasily. "And you liked what you found?"

"_I was delighted. You are alive aren't you?"_

"But I shouldn't be." He said as much to the dragon as to himself.

"_Meaning?"_

"I'm human, we are brittle. I should be dead from bleeding out, an inner bleeding, a pierced lung or just simple exposure." He frowned. "Take our machines and our clothes away from us and we won't last long." _Way to go spilling your secrets to the enemy, great, just great. _His father would probably disown him for something like this.

Toothless made some sort of humming noise. _"You did get cold, VERY quickly, but I saw to that. As for the others I can't say, you seemed dying at first but you've gotten better."_

Experimentally, Hiccup then tried standing up. His first surprise was that it hurt, but didn't cripple him. His second surprise, much like the first was that he didn't break down crying when lifting his arms. He was sore and beaten and a rib might still have been broken, but he didn't feel like dying as he still should have after a mere two days. _Why am I still alive?_

He then thought about what Toothless had said. Maybe his dream had been more than a dream, but he didn't mind. The Night Fury could have done whatever it pleased with him, and if it had decided to keep him warm, he didn't have anything against it. "Thank you."

Toothless nodded. Then Hiccup's stomach let out a loud grumble, and Toothless spoke. _"Are you hungry?"_

Now it was Hiccup's turn to nod. However he soon lost all thoughts of hunger.

Toothless started hulking, gagging or was he choking? Hiccup didn't know and for a brief moment he was worried for a dragon. A small part in the back of his head was nagging him about how he should be happy, but he ignored it. After but a moment Toothless stopped and regurgitated half a fish, and then proceeded by sitting down and looking expectantly at Hiccup.

He just looked at the thing. It was coated in saliva and a few displaced scales floated around in a pool that had formed underneath it. Doing his best not to gag he bent down for it, but then he saw the raw fish flesh and stopped. His stomach may have been roaring, but he wasn't stupid.

"_What's wrong? Eat it." _

He sighed, past lessons replaying in his mind. "We're back to how vulnerable we humans can be. It is raw, and it's a river or lake fish correct?" He paused, but didn't wait for a response. "Unless we cook it it's sure to contain parasites that would kill me within a week." Maybe that was an exaggeration, but he was pretty sure he had used up all his luck for the upcoming decennium.

"_That can easily be resolved. If you would take a step back."_

"I sure can, bu-…" He said while stepping away from the fish, but before he could finish a ball of light left the Night Furies mouth and engulfed the fish in momentary flames. Apart from some sizzling spittle, nothing hit him and he just stood there, flabbergasted. Smoke rose from the now charred remains of the fish. Maybe the dragon had been overly enthusiastic about cooking his meal. He sat down, slowly, and reached out to touch it, but stopped when he felt the heat rising from it a good foot away.

Waiting for the fish to cool down he felt the eyes of the Night Fury on him. He did his best to not let it unsettle him, and succeeded. Almost. After a while the fish had cooled somewhat and he touched its warm blackened surface. What once was scale, but now charcoal fell away with some coaxing and revealed white steaming meat. His eyes got moist at the sight and the smell was irresistible. He attacked the fish.

When he finished he let out a contented sigh. He was growing tired again. One look at the Night Fury and it seemed to approve. He lay down on one side and started drifting off. As his eyes slowly fell shut he saw a black wing lowering itself over him and he felt something pull him until something soft and warm covered his back. "Thank you." He mumbled. A purr was the only response he got.

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**AN**

So that was a nice long chapter for you. I would love to hear what you have to say. What you thought about descriptions, language, characterization, etc. And if you understood everything or if something left you wondering. I had one question in this chapter I kind of breezed over, but maybe it was natural. Thoughts? (Also I had one question that I left for the future. *Hint* Language.)

I'm also always looking for someone to help me find my mistakes, spelling or grammatical. I always proofread at least once, but some things will just slip, so please review.

Thank you for reading/following/favoriting it warms my heart to know that someone reads my stories. Also a huge thank you for the reviews and a big thank you to all of you who might post a review.


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